Salt suppliers 'are profiteering'

The council manages 2,000 miles of highways

A council has accused salt suppliers of profiteering during the recent snowy weather by increasing their prices.

Herefordshire Council said it had ordered 210 tonnes and negotiated a rate of �80-per-tonne, which it claimed was more than double the normal rate.

The council, which has 700 tonnes of salt left, said the cold weather meant it expected to go �700,000 over its road maintenance budget this year.

Highway Network Manager Clive Hall said the bill had "felt like profiteering".

Herefordshire Council said in the past month it had used 4,000 tonnes gritting 2,000 miles of highways.

Mr Hall said: "We do still need to secure a supply of rock salt to see us through until April, when our winter service comes to an end.

"Local authorities are doing everything they can in all weathers to keep traffic on the move, but poor supplies and what feels like profiteering are rubbing salt in the wound.

"When this is all over, there are lessons to be learned in terms of how salt supplies are managed in the UK".

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